IBM emphasized the p610's energy savings through the Power3-II copper-interconnect technology that consumes less electricity than aluminum wiring. The internal RAID removes the need for an external array with a separate power supply, Bryan said.

An entry-level p610 with one 333-MHz processor and 512M of memory, without the internal RAID controller, lists for $5,995. A configuration with one 333-MHz chip, 1G of memory and internal RAID 5 on four hot-swappable disks lists for $17,175.